Herramientas/Tool Index
Rapidpro
What is it?
RapidPro is an open source platform that allows anyone to create interactive messaging systems using a simple visual interface.
Why was it developed?
Since 2007, UNICEF Innovation has been working with SMS systems when it created an open source platform called RapidSMS with its partners to support ongoing data collection efforts and youth engagement activities. RapidSMS was a free and open source framework designed to send and receive data using basic mobile phones, manage complex workflows, automate analytics, and present data in real time.
Why are we sharing it?
In Zambia, for example, RapidSMS was used to facilitate communication between clinics and community health workers to significantly reduce the amount of time between the collection of blood samples for early HIV diagnosis in infants and the return of the test results to the health center of origin. RapidSMS has been widely used in international development, with many organizations contributing to the RapidSMS code base, which is built with Python and Django.
Inspired by the capabilities of RapidSMS and informed by their experience with RapidSMS, Rwandan software engineering company TextIt (formerly Nyaruka) created their own SMS service called TextIt, a commercial hosted service running on RapidPro. TextIt combined the strengths of RapidSMS and addressed many of the limitations that UNICEF and its partners experienced when implementing RapidSMS in harsh operating environments.
Guided by its principles of open source innovation, open standards and collaboration, UNICEF partnered with TextIt to open source and expand the capabilities of TextIt, creating RapidPro in 2014.
Have you reused or are you thinking of reusing this tool?
Just send an email to code@iadb.org requesting a “tool reuse badge”, exclusive to the IDB.